Coming to the tourist destination of Le Gia Food, Trade and Service Company Limited (Hoang Thanh commune), visitors can visit and experience products of coastal people.
The beach in Tinh Gia ward still retains its pristine beauty as a precious gift from nature. Blending into that space are the "seafood markets" held on the beach every early morning, bustling with sellers and buyers. Ms. Mai Thi Ha, a tourist from the capital Hanoi, is very excited about the atmosphere on the beach when the boats return. Here, she can buy fresh seafood at reasonable prices. "Immersing myself in the life of fishermen, I understand more about the culture of the fishing village with its own characteristics and appeal. But here, besides swimming and buying seafood, I don't know what to do or where to visit" - Ms. Ha said.
Surely Ms. Ha and many tourists do not know, in Tinh Gia ward there is a long-standing Do Xuyen - Ba Lang craft village famous for seafood processing. The fish sauce making profession has existed for a long time in Tinh Gia land and the following generations have continued their ancestors, bringing the profession associated with their lives to exist and develop to this day. According to Mr. Duong Van Tac, Chairman of the Do Xuyen - Ba Lang Fish Sauce Association, the Association currently has 22 members, which are businesses and households producing and processing seafood in the area. Of which, the association has 1 4-star OCOP product and dozens of 3-star OCOP products, such as shrimp paste, shrimp paste, sour fish sauce... Many products are available in supermarkets and food supply chains across the country.
Everyone understands that if tourists visit and experience the production site, the products of the craft village will be consumed directly, without going through an intermediary, and the association will have the opportunity to introduce the local traditional craft to tourists. However, in reality, the Do Xuyen - Ba Lang traditional fish sauce craft village has very few visitors. Occasionally, a few groups of tourists from other provinces come to Thanh Hoa for work to visit and learn about the production process of the products. Therefore, the products consumed through the channel of visiting and experiencing the production site are relatively few. Therefore, businesses, seafood production and processing households in the area still have to distribute products through intermediary channels, such as importing to restaurants, tourist sales points, purchasing traders, etc.
This year's tourist season, the traditional fish sauce craft village of Khuc Phu, Hoang Thanh commune emerged as the first bright spot in the tourism journey of the coastal villagers. In mid-2024, Le Gia Food, Trade and Service Company Limited officially opened for tourists to visit and experience at Le Gia fish sauce barrel house. Developed from a seafood processing facility in the traditional fish sauce craft village of Khuc Phu, Le Gia inherits and promotes traditional experience combined with deep processing of seafood products that meet national and international standards, and are environmentally friendly.
Coming to Le Gia tourist site, visitors can visit the production area, witness the large wooden barrels containing fish sauce; listen to the story of soaking, fermenting, and the fish sauce making process to love the land and people of the coastal village more. Mr. Le Anh, Director of Le Gia Food, Trade and Service Company Limited, said: Through the activities of visiting and experiencing the fish sauce barrel house of Le Gia, the business's sales increased by over 30%. From June to now, Le Gia has welcomed 15,000 visitors from Hai Tien Tourist Area. That is a joy for the business, and at the same time a positive signal for craft villages in the province that are struggling to link production with developing traditional craft village tourism.
In reality, tourism, experience of traditional crafts and craft villages in the province in general and coastal communes in particular are not commensurate with their potential. According to Mr. Le Anh's analysis, the main reason is that traditional craft villages operate on a small scale such as within families, villages and hamlets, and have not expanded outside. Meanwhile, cooperation and connection between craft villages, destinations and travel businesses are not really regular and effective. Therefore, tourists have few opportunities to access, learn about and experience craft village tourism products. In addition, most households producing in craft villages have not seen the effectiveness of investment and exploitation of production value associated with tourism to generate revenue. Most craft villages are only interested in the pure consumer market, so creating beautiful products, building suitable performance and display spaces to attract tourists to craft villages is almost non-existent.
In order for coastal craft villages to truly develop their potential, there needs to be support policies from the province in planning, developing, and registering product brands. At the same time, craft villages need to improve, innovate designs, create rich and diverse products... On the other hand, localities need to step up trade promotion, calling on travel businesses to invest in building and exploiting tourism products from traditional craft villages. "Associating craft villages with tourism development is not just a story of the people doing the craft, but a handshake between parties, including the State's mechanisms and policies, individuals doing the craft, craft villages and travel businesses. If one of them is missing, it will be very difficult for craft village tourism to develop" - Mr. Le Anh affirmed.
Article and photos: Tang Thuy
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/khi-lang-nghe-hoa-song-du-lich-255987.htm
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